For the first time in Turkey, the Livestock Technologies R&D and Innovation Festival (HAYTEKFEST), which will guide the livestock sector, hosted by Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKÜ), has ended.

HAYTEKFEST, held at Lavanta Tepesi Hotel on March 9-11, 2023, saw the participation of 101 projects from all over Turkey. Out of 101 projects, 37 projects made it to the finals through a three-stage evaluation. These finalist projects presented their final presentations over three days and were evaluated by expert jury members in their fields, and the top three projects were awarded.

The closing and award ceremony of HAYTEKFEST was attended by Burdur Member of Parliament Bayram Özçelik, Rector Prof. Dr. Adem Korkmaz, Head of the Breeding Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Adem Bölükbaşı, President of the Central Union of Cattle Breeders Kamil Özcan, Secretary General of the Western Mediterranean Development Agency Volkan Güler, Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Durmuş Acar, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Dalgar, Rector's Advisor Prof. Dr. Ömer Tekşen, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations, representatives of Political Parties, Public Institution Managers, Sector Representatives, academicians, and students.

In his speech, Member of Parliament Bayram Özçelik stated that Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University has made significant progress in the field of livestock, marking another first in Turkey by organizing such a festival, and wished that the projects that emerged and ranked within the scope of the festival would be beneficial for Burdur, our region, and Turkey.

Rector Prof. Dr. Adem Korkmaz also stated in his speech; “As Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, we have strived to build innovative studies and models in many areas with the opportunities and potentials given to us by being a new and young university from time to time. New university models are being discussed in the world, such as entrepreneurial university models, specialization university models, and regional orientation university models. Our being a young university provided us with opportunities to carry out these studies in this field. In this sense, we also sought some models within the framework of existing regulations. We tried to obtain concrete outputs by filling these models within a certain framework. The Livestock Technologies R&D and Innovation Festival (HAYTEKFEST) was important for us both in terms of being the first and as a university specialized in the field of livestock. I would like to thank all the teams who came here and presented their projects, all the participants, and everyone who contributed, and congratulate the projects that ranked.”

After the speeches, the awarded projects were announced.

The project titled “Yeni Bir Tarım Teknolojileri Girişimi Olan F Band  Büyükbaş Hayvanlar İçin Gelişmiş Kızgınlık ve Sürü Yönetimi Hayvan Sağlığı Takibini Yapan Hayvanları Kimliklendiren Bütünleşik Bir Cihaz Girişimi” by İzmir Atatürk High School and the project titled “Biyofilm Kaplama İle Yumurtanın Raf Ömrünün Uzatılması” by Afyon Dumlupınar Bilsem Middle School were deemed worthy of the jury special award.

The project titled “Kümes Tarama Hasta/Ölü Piliç Tespit, Erken Uyarı ve Uzaklaştırma Robotunun Tasarımı ve Geliştirilmesi” by Assoc. Dr. Arda Aydın, Assoc. Dr. Anıl Çay, Prof. Dr. Habib Kocabıyık, Specialist Arif Agvan was deemed worthy of the first prize.

The project titled “Mastitise Karşı Koruma ve Kontrol Sağlayan Yeni Bir Yaklaşım ‘Elektrikli Teat Dipping’ Cihazı” by Yusuf Yunus Atabay, Okan Seçil, Yunus Emre Yeşilkaya, Bilge Kabataş, and Yılmaz Uzun was deemed worthy of the second prize.

The third prize was awarded to the project titled “Sığırların Meme ve Vücutlarında Görülen Bovine Papillomavirus (BPV) Kaynaklı Sığırların Tedavisinde Kullanılmak Üzere Geliştirilen Ticari Preporet Papilend Krem” by Prof. Dr. Mehmet Kale.

In the competition where the first prize was 100 thousand TL, the second prize was 75 thousand TL, and the third prize was 50 thousand TL, the awards were presented by Burdur Member of Parliament Bayram Özçelik, Rector Prof. Dr. Adem Korkmaz, Head of the Breeding Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Adem Bölükbaşı, President of the Central Union of Cattle Breeders Kamil Özcan, and Secretary General of the Western Mediterranean Development Agency Volkan Güler.

At the end of the program, certificates and participation documents were presented to all participants.